‘HAY’ a new monument
The region around Gyumri in Armenia is showing its resilience. That was the case after the 1988 earthquake, the collapse of the Soviet Union and now again, during turbulent times due to economic crisis.
Between city and countryside, we placed an installation near an existing Soviet monument. We made the connection visible with elements from the agricultural landscape, stylized on the edge of the road running into the city. The identity of the Armenian people is strongly linked to the agricultural landscape. 72 % of the country is farmland. Almost 50 per cent of working people are employed in the agricultural economy.
The strong new construction ‘HAY’ symbolizes resurrection of the community after disaster. In part, this is a parallel to the nearby Soviet monument that symbolized the power of the People.
The new monument communicates with the existing monument without covering it up for the passer-by on the road. The whole is clearly legible from a distance.
We noticed that the new monument actually increases the value as a public space of this location at the entrance to Gyumri. The Soviet monument was already a familiar ‘spot’. Passers-by seemed to stop for a moment and observe the new construction in the landscape.
* HAY: means hay in English. But the word ‘Hay’ also refers to the way Armenians call themselves, hence Hayastan or Hayasdan for Armenia.
The installation is a long, slender wooden architectural framework. This structure is founded on debris from the earthquake. This debris was present on the site and left as we found it. The grid refers to the remarkably blocky bricks used to build facades of houses in this region. The linear form also fits the linear character of the existing Soviet monument. Next to its high vertical stele with symbols, it’s also consists of a long straight wall.
We placed straw bales from a local farmer in the cells of the framework. In other cells, coloured woollen threads were stretched. The grid structure and the straw together refer in a contemporary way to the pyramidal piles of straw bales on many Armenian farms. Besides the sturdy straw packages that decay with the weather, it is mainly the woollen threads that symbolize dynamic life. In one grid cell they span vertically at variable distances, in another cell they run crisscross. The effect of vibrant threads in the strong wind brings a very nice subtle element to the construction.
Through this wire pattern in colours of earth and also through the grid cells left empty, the view of the beautiful wide open landscape is being framed for the observer. Yet another dimension of the installation. By leaving the grid open here and there, a seemingly spontaneous pattern came into being.
The straw is an ephemeral material that loosens and spreads around the monument and decomposes on the ground without damage. The wooden framework can be reused by another artist or straw bales can be added anew.
A new monument to the passer-by @ Tinne Beirinckx
Building the structure between the fields and the road @ Jan von der Heyde
Experience of the Hay construction @ Jan von der Heyde
We built the new monument to the passer-by along the road to the village of Shirak. Our group of young international designers participated in the Meds workshop 2023 in Armenia. Meds 2023 wished to bring Gyumri, the former cultural capital of Armenia, back into the spotlight.
Our design & build project aimed to introduce the young designers to the proximity of the agricultural landscape as well as to traditional crafts. We wanted to applaud the very connection between the city and the countryside at this gate location to Gyumri. We sourced woollen thread from the nearby wool factory Amasia. The students dyed the wool with the husk of walnuts, nettle leaves and the blossom of wild carrot, under the guidance of artist Svetlana Khachatryan.
The students learned to build a 5 m-high wooden grid structure using basic tools: saw, hammer and nails. Working well together was essential to complete the construction in the eight working days available. By applying the straw bales as filling, the students and architects were introduced to this material popular among sustainable builders in Belgium.
We do believe we brought our participants in touch with the landscape through the work at the site location and the composing elements of the design. We saw a great potential for straw bales as a sustainable construction material because of its abundance in Armenia and exposed it in our construction.
Architecture offices involved in the design:
Location: Khrimyan Hayrik Highway, Gyumri, Armenia
Design year: 2023
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